CoRE Horsemanship

31/07/2025

Happy faces during a saddle fit!

We have widened Alfie’s saddle three times in the time that I’ve known him, and he’s now outgrown it so here he and his owner are trying a size 5 LM saddle out for size.

As you can see, everyone was happy in it and I was much happier with the fit and the room it provides to allow his back to continue to develop further. 😀

LM Saddles Ltd Horse-friendly Saddles, Holistic & Remedial Saddle-fitting

24/07/2025

Excellently written!

The horse doesn’t care what method you use. He cares how you make him feel while using it.

The war between training methods is exhausting, and it’s hurting the very animals we claim to love.

The industry is drowning in egos.

Scroll any comment section and you’ll see it: accusations, sarcasm, name-calling, and dogmatic preaching, from every side.

Positive reinforcement trainers slam negative reinforcement as cruel and abusive. Traditional trainers mock positive reinforcement as fluffy tree hugging nonsense.

And meanwhile… the horse is stuck in the middle of a war he never asked to be in.

Let’s get one thing straight:
Every single method we use is man-made.

It might’ve been created based on observations of horse behavior. But at the end of the day, they’re still man-made.

Natural horsemanship, liberty, traditional horsemanship, connection based training, positive reinforcement, science based horsemanship, it’s all human-created.

All of it is an attempt to build a bridge between two species. None of it is flawless. They’re tools, approaches and philosophies.

The problem isn’t the method.
The problem is the human.

It’s the person who cares more about being right than being kind, fair and ethical. The trainer who preaches compassion online, but explodes behind closed doors.

The influencer who publicly shames others to boost their own platform.

And it’s all of us watching silently, afraid to speak up because the backlash is that toxic.

This isn’t a game. This is about living beings with fragile nervous systems and beating hearts. The obsession of with being part of the “right camp” has gone so far that we’ve forgotten the point: to help horses live more peaceful, and empowered lives with us.

You can be ethical and use pressure.
You can be ethical and use food rewards.
Any method can be unethical in the wrong hands.

It’s not “R+ vs R-.” It’s not about followers or applause. It’s about doing better. For the horse. For the next generation of trainers and horseman.

For the future of an industry that will collapse under the weight of its own arrogance if we don’t wake up.

Put the horse first. Always. Everything else is just noise.

12/07/2025

Little miss Daisy 🌼

Patiently waiting for her front end to catch her hind end up so that we can continue with our solo hacking sessions without me ending up on her neck 🫠

11/07/2025

Archie 😍

When I first met Archie he was incredibly defensive, biting and kicking out when approached and handled. Even haltering him could be a challenge, touching him to groom, handle his feet and leading him were often a no, let alone tacking him up. He had a lot of pain memory and trauma/negative associations with humans.

With lots of time, patience, consistency and positive reinforcement, a good team of professionals and a very dedicated human, he is like a different horse these days.

Whilst his owner was on holiday recently I had the honour of playing with him at Liberty and riding him for her and I was able to tack him up at liberty, warm him up on the ground, mount him and ride him without a hint of a ‘no’ or any defensive behaviour. And when I went to leave? He trotted after me 🥰

28/06/2025

Floss and Kevin warming up for their ride at Liberty (the rope is over his neck but keeps falling off 🤦🏼‍♀️) pretending to be Mia Rodley again 🥹

22/06/2025

Mavericks human visited this week for his 4th Birthday, so we had a Quarter Horse party!

It was a scorcher, so we adjusted our original plans and took Maverick and Daisy for a long walk in the woods. We found a temporary road where some forestry works are being carried out that they weren’t sure about, so we let them take their time to explore that. And then we came to a scary bridge over the river that they are also unsure about, but there was a lovely gift of juicy grass and shade over the other side!

When we got back we hung with the herd and let them self select from a number of different essential oils which was really interesting and not something I’ve done for a long time, and actually not done at all with Ophelia and Cora before. It was a perfect afternoon ❤️

14/06/2025

Huge improvement for this 19 year old Thoroughbred in just 2 months! He is becoming much more balanced through his top line and we have widened his saddle again!

Excited to see where he is by the end of the Summer. The proof is in the profile as we like to say at LM Saddles Ltd Horse-friendly Saddles, Holistic & Remedial Saddle-fitting

Excuse my hand trying to stop my paperwork blowing away 🙃

11/06/2025

My Teddy Bear and Catherine from Beautiful Soul, Intuitive Energy Healing. Some very interesting discoveries made during our session with Ted, who has quite a trauma history, which are finally helping him to find some peace in his retirement. ❤️

Listening Through the Hooves" 🐾✨
Did you know that when a horse experiences trauma in one sense, it may adapt by strengthening another? 🧠
Ted, a wise and sensitive soul, learned to "listen" through the vibrations in his hooves after ear-related trauma made sound a trigger. This incredible adaptation also meant his feet couldn’t stay still when overwhelmed—until he was truly heard.

🌿 Through craniosacral therapy and intuitive communication, Ted found peace. His nervous system began to calm, and his body remembered stillness.

🔍 If your horse shows signs of tension or restlessness… what might they be trying to say?

➡️ Tap into their story. Sessions available now. DM to book.

10/06/2025

If you’re looking for something to listen to that is both educational and hilarious and a place to feel seen as someone who is also ‘a little bit woo’ then I’d recommend giving Jemma and Kirsty’s podcast a listen!
I spend most of my poo picking time giggling along with them 💜

05/06/2025

Little Louie 🥹

I have such a soft spot for this little guy. He’s coming on brilliantly under saddle and his confidence exploring the world outside the field is soaring. He wasn’t feeling 100% with me in this session so the riding plans were scrapped it was a slow groundwork session refining things that he knows and are in his comfort zone with lots of positive reinforcement and time to process.

03/06/2025

Outside in the sunshine rebalancing the flocking in an LM GP saddle!

Not a great angle but one panel is flatter and the other is more ‘full’ and slightly over flocked. The horse had been asymmetrically shimmed to help to balance the saddle on his back where the muscle was more developed on one side than the other. The flocking often mirrors what the back is doing.

Now that the horse is more balanced and more evenly muscled along the top line, the shims can be reduced to rebalance the saddle after the flocking has been adjusted.

Allowing space for the muscle to develop so that we can encourage, strong, healthy backs is always a top priority when fitting LM Saddles Ltd Horse-friendly Saddles, Holistic & Remedial Saddle-fitting